Tue Feb 25, 2003 12:26 pm
Freelancer - A Review (Pros and Cons)
Okay, let me just make a few things clear:
Yes, I downloaded the warez version. But I preordered this game a month ago from EBgames, so I don't think I'm being too hypocritical here.
I know I'm a newbie on these boards, but I've been waiting for this game for three years. It's easily one of my most anticipated games... especially considering how much I loved Privateer 1 and 2.
Well, my OPINION of Freelancer is mixed, and can't really be described in a few words.
Near the beginning of the game, before I was able to leave the New York system, I was so completely taken into the game. The possibilities seemed limitless, and it truly seemed like I was free to do anything I wanted. I even told my room mate that this was the best game ever. That period lasted around 4-5 hours.
The pros of this game:
Radio chatter... wow. It's nice to here the radio chatter with the unique identifications of the ships and its cargo, and what it's doing and stuff. I can't imagine how much effort they put in to this feature, and it adds incredibly to the immersion of the game. Very nicely done.
Graphical detail. Everything from the rings around the planet to the explosions ot the missiles. Absolutely beautiful. Also the planetary skyline graphics, as well as the bar and other places were also very very nice looking. The detail they put into it was amazing.
Story. Pretty decent story, very good voice acting. The campaign missions were very entertaining and had just the right amount of challenge. Very good job on that.
Controls/Combat was very nicely done and intuitive as well. I usually play the game with the mouse reversed, but this control scheme was still intuitive. Very nice. Ship combat is also very fun, but it might be a bit too simplistic... all you really do is turn to face the ship you're fighting and click. Not too exciting compared to the combat in say, Freespace. But that's just my opinion. It's still very fun to see a swarm of ships dog fighting especially given the high quality of the graphics.
Lots of hidden stuff! In the New York system alone, there were a LOT of hidden stuff and pirate bases to find. It would take years to find everything. The exploration aspect of the game was done very well...
The cons:
People have said that you don't have to take the "story" missions to enjoy this game, but that's not entirely true, at least in single player mode. Most of the rest of the universe is closed to you unless you do take the story missions... they only open up after each story mission. And what sucks is that after certain story missions, entire systems turn hostile on you, so it's pretty much impossible to take the merchant route once you've followed the story missions... since you can't really take any really profitable intersystem trade routes... usually the only safe place is your current home system (in the story). I guess you can get around this if you want by just playing on your own multiplayer server... but that gets me to my next point:
There's not much to do with your money! During the course of the game, I saw about a dozen or so different ships for purchase. (And also half a dozen hidden ships scattered around the place). With that in mind, it's really not all that hard to get the best possible ship and equipment very quickly if you can find a profitable trade route... (some of them will get you $150,000 a trip!). And after that, there's absolutely nothing to use your money on. All you can really do is make more money to put in your bank account... which seems kind of pointless to me. But I guess some people might enjoy that. I wished there were better, more expensive things to spend your money on... like being able to buy a cruiser or maybe a house on a planet or something.
Finally, it doesn't seem like your actions impact the universe very much, if at all. Say you go attack the pirate faction again and again... true your reputation with the various factions are affected accordingly, but in the real universe, the pirate faction is still as strong as ever. All you can really do in missions is to kill stuff and make money... and that's pretty much it. And the missions are all rather monotonous... just "go here" and "kill that."
The above was just my honest opinion of the game, and I could be wrong about a lot of the things. If you feel the need to flame me or anything, feel free, I guess. I'm not always right, but I do try to be honest.
Yes, I downloaded the warez version. But I preordered this game a month ago from EBgames, so I don't think I'm being too hypocritical here.
I know I'm a newbie on these boards, but I've been waiting for this game for three years. It's easily one of my most anticipated games... especially considering how much I loved Privateer 1 and 2.
Well, my OPINION of Freelancer is mixed, and can't really be described in a few words.
Near the beginning of the game, before I was able to leave the New York system, I was so completely taken into the game. The possibilities seemed limitless, and it truly seemed like I was free to do anything I wanted. I even told my room mate that this was the best game ever. That period lasted around 4-5 hours.
The pros of this game:
Radio chatter... wow. It's nice to here the radio chatter with the unique identifications of the ships and its cargo, and what it's doing and stuff. I can't imagine how much effort they put in to this feature, and it adds incredibly to the immersion of the game. Very nicely done.
Graphical detail. Everything from the rings around the planet to the explosions ot the missiles. Absolutely beautiful. Also the planetary skyline graphics, as well as the bar and other places were also very very nice looking. The detail they put into it was amazing.
Story. Pretty decent story, very good voice acting. The campaign missions were very entertaining and had just the right amount of challenge. Very good job on that.
Controls/Combat was very nicely done and intuitive as well. I usually play the game with the mouse reversed, but this control scheme was still intuitive. Very nice. Ship combat is also very fun, but it might be a bit too simplistic... all you really do is turn to face the ship you're fighting and click. Not too exciting compared to the combat in say, Freespace. But that's just my opinion. It's still very fun to see a swarm of ships dog fighting especially given the high quality of the graphics.
Lots of hidden stuff! In the New York system alone, there were a LOT of hidden stuff and pirate bases to find. It would take years to find everything. The exploration aspect of the game was done very well...
The cons:
People have said that you don't have to take the "story" missions to enjoy this game, but that's not entirely true, at least in single player mode. Most of the rest of the universe is closed to you unless you do take the story missions... they only open up after each story mission. And what sucks is that after certain story missions, entire systems turn hostile on you, so it's pretty much impossible to take the merchant route once you've followed the story missions... since you can't really take any really profitable intersystem trade routes... usually the only safe place is your current home system (in the story). I guess you can get around this if you want by just playing on your own multiplayer server... but that gets me to my next point:
There's not much to do with your money! During the course of the game, I saw about a dozen or so different ships for purchase. (And also half a dozen hidden ships scattered around the place). With that in mind, it's really not all that hard to get the best possible ship and equipment very quickly if you can find a profitable trade route... (some of them will get you $150,000 a trip!). And after that, there's absolutely nothing to use your money on. All you can really do is make more money to put in your bank account... which seems kind of pointless to me. But I guess some people might enjoy that. I wished there were better, more expensive things to spend your money on... like being able to buy a cruiser or maybe a house on a planet or something.
Finally, it doesn't seem like your actions impact the universe very much, if at all. Say you go attack the pirate faction again and again... true your reputation with the various factions are affected accordingly, but in the real universe, the pirate faction is still as strong as ever. All you can really do in missions is to kill stuff and make money... and that's pretty much it. And the missions are all rather monotonous... just "go here" and "kill that."
The above was just my honest opinion of the game, and I could be wrong about a lot of the things. If you feel the need to flame me or anything, feel free, I guess. I'm not always right, but I do try to be honest.
